A/N: PLEASE READ THIS NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?

EDIT: Trolls and threats all over the reviews yet again. Bah! Begone! Can anyone see this? Are the glitches gone? Please let me know. Untraveled Road is nearing completion, my team's polishing it up a bit so rest assured you'll have it soon. I believe it'll be ready by Wednesday -or Thursday depending your timezone- so there you have it. In the meantime...

Reviews are my fuel and without them, I wither and die as an author. I want to make people happy...but silence hurts.

Remember! We're a year out from the events of Canon. As such, Blake and Pyrrha are both a year younger. Same applies for Cardin and his gang.

*clears throat*

FINALLY! I can write the scenes I've had planned since I first penned this story. My team's been watching me like a hawk to make sure I didn't go off on a tangent, but now I'm free to go nuts! Blake's one of my favorite mouthpieces, but the true treat is the action in this chapter, the fluff, the violence, the little heartwarming bits, the devilish twists and turns and of course, the sweet, sweet surprises.

Now, then!

I hope you're ready dear reader; because we're taking the dial and cranking it up to ELEVEN. We've got a real treat for you here; the gang and I spent three nights getting this ironed out and the details juuust right. Remember all of those plans we mentioned earlier? All those clever little hints and details? You're about to see them bloom. For better or worse, Naruto made eye contact with Blake in the last chapter; a fact neither is particularly happy about. Still, our boy's accepted it.

We've got a clash of ideologies in this chapter, one I'm sure you've all seen coming a mile away.

Naruto makes no apologies for the life he and Emerald lived. They were orphans. They were children. They had to to horrible things to survive. Blake, on the other hand...well. We all know how Naruto feels about people concealing their true nature. Considering he's already reincarnated...well. You'll see. It certainly doesn't help that Grimm are drawn to negative emotion ladies and gentlemen and ohohoho you could cut the tension with a knife in this chapter.

No long author's note this time around; we don't want to detract from the chapter.

As ever we own no quotes, references, themes or memes!

So in lieu of a wordy author's note...readysetgo!

"There it is. That's the look. I've seen it for years in face after face in the streets of Vacuo. Stop running from your past, damnit! Face it head on! Grab it by the horns! I know its hard for you. I know it hurts! But trust me, its gonna be a whole lot worse if you leave things as they are! If you can't get over it, then commit to it! Strangle that guilt holding you back, raise your head high and walk forward!"

"I can't! I'm not a monster! Unlike you, I regret the things I've done!"

"Oh. Monster, am I? Perhaps you should speak to me more softly then. Monsters are dangerous. You damn me for the deeds I've done, you judge me for the crimes you THINK I've committed, but your hands are just as bloody as mine. If not moreso! Men fear monsters, don't they? And not just men, but women and children too. Even OUR kind run from them. Fear them. Dread them. And you believe you know what it is to be a monster, hmm? So you've taken a few lives and feel bad about it. Bah! There are worse things than death. Get over yourself.

You have no idea what a monster is, Blake. Follow me. I'm going to show you."

~an argument of ideals.

Wolves and Sheep

Life wasn't fair.

Blake Belladonna had never been more certain of that fact until this moment. "Give it back!"

She tried for what felt like the umpteenth time to snatch her stolen ribbon back from Naruto, to no avail. Much to her dismay her fellow Faunus held it tight in his right hand as he walked ahead of her. Any attempt on her part to extricate it from his fist seemed doomed to failure. No matter how she tried to distract him, she couldn't pry the strip of fabric from his fist; every attempt on her part only served to deepen his scowl. By now sixth attempt he looked positively murderous. Still, she had to try.

"Would you stop glaring at me?" Naruto clicked his tongue in mild admonishment as he stepped over a fallen log. "I'm not happy about this either...but we're partners now. We'll just to deal with it."

She swiped at his hand again.

"No, no, no." he shook his head and batted her palm away. "You're not getting this back. I don't know why you were hiding those ears of yours, but I'm not having it. Don't hide who you are."

"Its none of your business" she sulked. "I had a reason for hiding them!"

"I'm a fox, sweetheart." Piercing blue eyes roved across the path ahead and the trees above before finally settling on her. "Everything is my business. Tell you what." he paused and turned to plant his back against a worn looking tree. "You tell me the reason why, and I'll give it back. No strings attached."

...

...

...

Silence reigned supreme.

"Have it your way." the fox Faunus shrugged. "The bow stays with me, then."

"You're insufferable, you know that?" Blake scuffed the ground with her foot and kicking dirt at him as he marched on ahead of her once more. "I don't want to be your partner. You weren't even trying to knock me out of that tree! Why don't you just let me go and pretend you never met me?! It would be better for the both of us!"

"No can do, kitty-kat." as ever, his razor wit bit through her defiance like an angry Beowolf. "Ozpin and his cronies are watching us. You can run if you like, you strike me as the type, but it won't change the result."

She dragged herself after him like a ball and chain for fear of being left behind.

"You're lying."

"Nope." Naruto jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating a nearby oak to her right. "There's a camera up there in the branches. You can see it in the sunlight if you squint." Much to her chagrin, she saw light dance off metal as a lens focus on them. "See?" He snapped of a snarky salute to the device in question. "There's no getting out of this."

Damn. Damnit. Damn him!

She'd tried so hard, gotten so far, but in the end it didn't even matter. She'd come to Beacon to start over. This was meant to be the beginning of a new life for her. She'd pass initiation and become a huntress here, find a simple partner who wouldn't pry into her past, and a team who wouldn't ask questions. She would be free of the White Fang and all her sins, given a chance to atone.

Fate had a cruel sense of humor it seemed.

Instead she'd wound up with the one person she couldn't accept. She'd seen this boy mop the floor with Cardin and his cronies in the auditorium with almost punitive ease and -while a small silent part of her admired that he'd stuck up for that poor girl- right now she wanted nothing more than to drown him in a river. It wasn't his fault. He just stood out too much. Reminded her of Adam too much.

She'd thought herself clever, but moreover, she thought Vale was safe. She'd left the White Fang to get away from Faunus like him, not to tumble into the arms of another.

In a different life she would've waited another year before leaving the Fang- leaving Adam!- behind as she had. But she'd been so angry. A simple argument between the two of them had escalated into a war of ideals, and so here she was. Adam and Illia weren't supposed to come after her, yet they had. Now here she was trapped with a maniac of a different sort. Who still wouldn't give back her bow!

Beacon was meant to be an escape from all this. A winning hand in the card game that was life. Not...this. Frantic and out of options, she threw one of her last remaining card at her -not not not!- still silent partner.

"I know who you are."

Naruto hummed and peeled back a branch for her. "Do you now? By all means, enlighten me."

She ducked under it and hurried after him. Damn him and those long legs of his. He had to be enjoying this.

"You...you're that thief!" when he only chuckled at her, she felt her face darken even more. "The one from Vacuo! Desert Storm!"

"Really?" His laughter redoubled. "Is that what they're calling me these days? Ha!" He batted aside a web of vines and paused to inspect a tree whose bark had been clawed apart. "Amateurs. Should've picked a better name."

"Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"

His laughter only intensified, leaving her to duck under the next branch herself. She glowered angry golden daggers at the blond's broad shoulders; trying to burn a hole through his back with them alone. Every Faunus worth their salt knew his deeds, even if many had never seen his face. The twin shields he wore at his wrists merely confirmed her earlier suspicions. She didn't even know if Naruto was his real his name, but she knew what the Fang called him to make her own assumptions.

Desert Storm.

Not quite a gentleman thief, but not some mindless thug either. A daring burglar His crimes were many, but unlike Adam, he'd never taken a life. She didn't have any proof. But she'd suspected and he'd made no effort to deny it. It was enough to make her want to melt back into the shadows and hide. So much for her new life. She was associating with a wanted criminal now. How long would it be until others made the connection, realized just what she was trying to hide? Her past seemed determined to hound her everywhere she went.

"Cat got your tongue?" Naruto's voice called up ahead of her. "You've been quiet for awhile now. That's unlike you."

Blake growled and bulled on ahead of him. Rather, she tried to until an arm shot out to bar her path.

She glowered bloody red daggers at its owner. "Will you stop being a-

When that same hand slammed over her mouth and yanked her behind a tree, her fist instinct was to panic. Fear compelled her to cry out, but even that noise was muffled against Naruto's palm. She glared up at him, but those mirthful blue eyes were chips of ice now, cold and hard and focused. Naruto raised a finger to his lips. He shook his head slowly and she saw his mouth move, though no sound emerged. It was easy enough to read them. She soon wished she hadn't.

"Don't move."

Blake didn't get a chance to ask why not; she heard it before she saw it. A great dark shape easily three times their height lumbered through the Emerald Forest ahead of them, swaying and lurching. She caught a flash of white bone against the black and her heart skipped a beat. Grimm? It...didn't look right. She'd seen her fair share of minor Grimm before -even killed a few- but there was something off about this one. Before she could ascertain what it was the beast paused, sniffed once at the air, and moved on.

"There." Naruto released her as it bounded away. "Its gone."

Blake pawed at his hand. "What the hell was that?! Warn me next time!"

"Probably a Beowolf." Naruto slumped against a tree. "Big one, too. We're better off avoiding it."

Abruptly, the canopy above them shook as something landed miles above them. Both faunus froze. An unfamiliar shrieked pierced the sky as whatever it was took off again and a cold downdraft assailed them. Blake felt a cold bead of sweat run down her brow as she released a breath she hadn't even known she was holding. "And that?"

"Something bigger." her partner thumbed his chin as he regarded the trees above with bleak look. "Nevermore by the sound of it. Something we want no part of. I don't know about you, but I'm no good when it comes to aerial Grimm."

Was this forest full of giant Grimm or something?!

Blake looked down and saw her ribbon still held in his fist. Saw her chance. He was distracted by the trees. Moreover, he wasn't paying the least attention to her. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! She dove for it while he was looking away; and against all odds, succeeded. This time she somehow managed to wrap her fingers around the tail end of the thin material. The moment she did, she yanked on it with all her might. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Enough!" Naruto batted the hand away and rounded on her with a hiss as he held it out of her grasp. "We've got giant Grimm about and you're still after this thing?! Where are your priorities!"

"Its mine!" she cried!

"You're right." the smile he flashed her was colder than winter itself. "Lets do something about that."

Before she could think to stop him he stepped back and seized the thin strip of fabric between both hands. An ominous ripping sound filled Blake's ears as he snapped the ribbon taut. No. He wouldn't. Surely he couldn't be that cruel. Even as she stepped forward to stop him, it was too late. She could only cry out.

"No! Don't!"

Naruto tore her ribbon -what was left of it- to shreds before her very eyes. Blake felt something tear inside herself with the ruined cloth. It was just a ribbon, she told herself. She could always get another one. By then it would be too late. She'd be seen by the rest of the first years and outed as a Faunus. She knew what would come after. It would be just the same as it always was. Because of this. Because of him.

"There." he patted his hands, leaving the torn shreds to settle at her feet. "Lets see you wear it now, coward."

Coward.

Without so much as a backward glance he stormed away. Still, that last word struck Blake like a slap in the face and she hesitated, if only for a moment. She'd been called worse -far worse!- during her time with the Fang, but those words still stung all the same. Even more so coming from someone outside it.

Her anger ignited.

"Why are you like this?!" She shouted at his back.

"ME?!" Quick as a flash he rounded on her, ears twitching. "I'm not the one hiding who I am!"

Her own flattened in response. "That's not...!"

"Blake Belladonna? Really? How obvious can you be?!" He snapped his teeth at her, eliciting another flinch from the younger Faunus. "If you know me, then just about every Faunus alive knows your last name. You didn't even try to disguise yourself. Not really. A bow? Come on, now! Did you think that would work?!"

"And look at you!" she rammed her forehead against his with a hiss, standing on her tiptoes just to reach him. "You didn't even try to change your appearance!"

"I used a more subtle approach. But you're right." he leaned back, leaving her startled with his reply. "I could have. But I didn't. Do you know why?"

Tremulously, she shook her head.

"Unlike you, I'm proud of my life." the whiskered youth jabbed a thumb at his chest, his words cracked at her like a whip. "I have no regrets. If I see injustice or something I don't like, I'll act first and ask questions later. Consequences be damned. If anyone is bullied in front of me, human or faunus, I'm gonna break that bully's legs. Eye for an eye. Tooth for a tooth. That's how I work." He really was just like Adam. No, he was worse. Adam slaughtered the enemies of the White Fang. Naruto clearly left his wishing for death. He left them humiliated and broken...just like Cardin.

"You can't do that!" she said as much, for what little good it did her.

"Can." He poked her forehead, forcing her back a step. "Am. Will." Get used to it, princess." Another poke, another retreat. "You only get one life in this rotten world, so make the most of it." her back hit a tree and he all but pinned her there with his gaze." Now get off your high horse, stop running, and fight for what you believe in. Isn't that what the White Fang does?"

"I'm not...!"

"You are." Naruto paused, frowned, reconsidered his words as he considered another savaged tree. "Or at the very least, you were. Used to be. You have that air about you." Realization dawned in his eyes and the weight behind his gaze threatened to bury her alive. "I get it now. Why else would someone like Adam Freaking Taurus come to Beacon like this. He came to retrieve someone. You."

She took a step backward. "Are you...working with him?"

"Why would I? I'm a freak." he scoffed, tail thrashing angrily against his back. "Nine out of ten Faunus come into this world with a single animal trait. Me? I wound up with two. Three if you count the whiskers." his ears, human and faunus alike, twitched as he stared her down. "If that weren't enough, there's the matter of my birth. My mother -my own flesh and blood!- died bringing me into this world." he shrugged, uncaring of her flinch. "My father couldn't bear to look at me after that. He finally threw me out into the streets a few years later. Do you have any idea what that's like to live like that? Do you even care? No."

Turning his head, he spat at her feet.

"We're nothing alike, Blake." he shook his head. "Em and I chose to leave the life of a thief behind because we'd made enemies. Fear had nothing to do with it. The stakes were getting too high, and we wanted something better than what we had, so we left. We never lied to ourselves. Never deceived each other. We knew exactly what we were getting into." he jammed both thumbs into his belt and frowned at her. "If this falls through, it'll be a disappointment, but it won't be the end of our world. We'll just have to...make a career change."

"You'll go back to being thieves." she flung the words at him.

"We won't like it," he batted the words away with a bitter smile, "But we have to make a living."

"Then you're no better a common criminal!" At that remark, his eyes turned to slits and she thought he might slap her.

"There it is." Incredibly, he smiled and shook his head. "That's the look. I've seen it for years in face after face in the streets of Vacuo."

In a flash, Naruto moved.

"Stop running from your past, damnit!" Blake realized her peril too late; by then he'd already seized her by the shoulders. Now he gave her a firm shake. "Face it head on! Grab it by the horns if you have to! I know its hard for you. I know it hurts!" when she tried to speak out and shout him down, he snarled her into silence. "Listen to me! If you keep going as you are now, your're going to regret it! If you can't get over what you've done, then commit to it! Strangle that guilt holding you back, raise your head high and walk forward!"

"I can't!" she railed back, slapping his chest. "I'm not a monster! Unlike you, I regret the things I've done!"

"Oh. Monster, am I? the blond reared back as if she'd slapped him and his scowl turned to a bitter smile. "Perhaps you should speak to me more softly, then. Monsters are dangerous. You'd happily damn me for the deeds I've done, condemn me for the crimes you THINK I've committed, but your hands are just as bloody as mine." his finger jabbed her shoulder and she recoiled with a hiss. "If not moreso!"

"That's not...I didn't...

"Men fear monsters, don't they?" still he advanced, bulldozing her protests. "And not just men, but women and children too. Even OUR kind run from them. Fear them. Dread them. And you believe you know what it is to be a monster, hmm? So you've taken a few lives and feel bad about it. Tough." her wrist lashed at him and he caught, stalling the slap before it could strike. "See?! You tried to hit me for it! Hypocrite! You'll gladly run away from your past, but you won't face it!" he flung her arm away. "There are worse things than death. Far worse! Get over yourself!"

A lone ice blue iris regarded her over his shoulder.

"You have no idea what a monster is, Blake. Follow me. I'm going to show you."

...and if I refuse?"

"That's on you." his shoulders rose and fell in a huff. "Follow, or don't. You're a hot mess, and I shouldn't have to fix you...but I'm gonna try."

Blake wasn't sure if that was supposed to comfort her or not. She dragged herself after him. They walked on in bitter silence for what felt like hours. In reality, she was sure only a few minutes had passed.

Finally, Naruto spoke again.

"I'm not sorry about what I said." he said haltingly, choosing his words with great care as they broke through the brush and found the path once more, "You might think me cruel-but it's the truth. I'm not saying the White Fang is full of saints, but sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in. Nothing will change if you just stand there and turn the other cheek."

"I did fight." she took her lips between her teeth. "I'm tired of fighting."

"You never stop fighting. Naruto countered sagely as he led them deeper into the thicket. "From the moment you take your first breath in this world to your last, you're always fighting for something. Be it food, water, or even companionship. Y'see, the trick is finding something to believe in, something you love, someone you'd die for...

Blue eyes turned to regard her. Widened. "Duck!"

Blake obeyed without thinking and not a moment took soon. A rush of warm air passed perilously close to her head as one Naruto's shields whipped past, followed by a bestial howl. One far too close for her liking. Against her better judgement the younger Faunus turned and found the source. She tumbled backward with a yelp when she found the weapon buried in the white skull of a Beowolf, its jaws poised perilously close to take a bite right out of her shoulder. No longer. The creature collapsed with a wet gurgle at her feet and dissolved into harmless ash. She hadn't even heard it coming. Was she really that distracted?

"You alright?"

Golden eyes blinked rapidly as concerned blue orbs swelled before them. Between one moment and the next Naruto had appeared beside her. Now he offered her his hand as he bent down to retrieve his fallen shield. He could've let her die. But he hadn't. Why? She sucked in a small, ragged breath and clamped a hand down on his arm, allowing herself to be hoisted to her feet.

"Have you killed Grimm before?" he was looking at her as though she were glass, afraid she might shatter at any moment. She loahted it.

"Of course I have." her cheeks burned as she batted his hands away. "I was just...caught off guard. That's all."

"That unusual." Naruto muttered. "Not you," he amended casually at her heated glance. "Grimm don't sneak up on people like that. The regular ones usually just howl and bray and run dead at you. Even the crabs back in Vacuo didn't really ambush you unless you walked right over their lair. Well, the spiders did, but that's to be expected, I guess...

"Crabs?" Blake felt her gut twist. "Spiders?"

"Big ones." Naruto added with a nod, heedless of her growing terror. "They'd jump right out of the sand and wham!" a fist smacked into an open palm. "If you weren't careful you'd be dragged right under."

"I don't think I want to see Vacuo." Blake whimpered. "Ever."

"Hmm. Don't blame you." he grinned, and for the first time, she found herself almost mirroring it. "Nobody likes Vacuo. Don't look now, but we've got more company."

Blake followed his gaze and found a pair of Ursua, Minor and Greater alike, lumbering out of the brush only a few yards ahead. Unlike the odd Beowolf of before, these two made no such attempts at subterfuge. They saw them and charged forward, braying all the while. She broke off to engage the smaller of the pair, used her Semblance to evade its first swipe, and subsequently dispatched it with a quick slice across the throat. Quick and efficient, not a single motion wasted on her part.

Naruto dove at the big one, eyes burning red.

"I call dibs!"

To its credit, the Ursa saw him coming and reacted accordingly; for all the good it did. Rather than take its mighty claw on one of his shields the blond let glance harmlessly off his Aura and leaped at the beast. Unprepared for such a suicidal maneuver, the Grimm wasn't able to react until he clamored onto its back. By then, it was too late.

Tan palms clamped down on the ghastly white spines protruding from its back and held tight.

"What are you doing?!" Blake balked.

Naruto didn't answer her with words, but deeds. That ghastly glow in those now-amber orbs roared ever higher, alight with some inner flame. The beast must've sensed something amiss; because its struggles intensified tenfold. Still Naruto clung on, riding the bear like a bucking bronco. His eyes burned a bloody scarlet now, sharp and slitted, his lips parted in an almost rapturous expression. Enraged beyond measure, the Ursa reared up and tried to crush him against a tree, but the blond merely twisted his body out of the way, planted his feet on its back, and pulled.

And the Grimm began to slow.

(.0.0.0.)

Ozpin blinked down at the Scroll in his hand.

Once.

Twice.

Then thrice.

"Well." he frowned. "I didn't expect this."

Glynda looked over his shoulder and her face turned absolutely ashen. Ozpin didn't blame her; had he a mirror, he expected his face would've been a similar shade of white right about now. It was like watching something out of a horror movie; you wanted to look away -and he did!- but you just couldn't bring yourself to avert your eyes from the disaster unfolding before you. How strange. He'd chosen to watch the boy on a whim and here, in this moment, he almost pitied the blond's prey. That...did not look like a pleasant death.

Still, this was incredible...and terrifying. Such a power could not be squandered.

Though it hurt his heart to say it, Beacon needed such a gift.

"Sir," his lieutenant whispered, "Is he...?

His lips turned down in a grimace.

"Killing it, yes."

(.0.0.0.)

The Ursa was dying.

It was the work of minutes rather than moments, but with each passing second that Blake stood by, she watched the beast grew weaker. Little by little its throes diminished. Dark fur turned coarse and grey. Muscles atrophied as its body became old and brittle like so much rotten driftwood. And still her partner didn't relent. He took and took and took until the beast had nothing left to give. Until it collapsed, legs folding beneath its burly bulk. Those ghastly red eyes closed, never to open again.

Naruto rode its corpse the ground with a small sigh and smacked his lips. "Thanks for the meal."

A beat of awkward silence pushed itself between the two Faunus once more.

"What was that?!" Blake backpedaled, her mouth open in a small round "O" of muted confusion as she watched her partner dismount the decaying corpse. That wasn't his Semblance. No. It couldn't be. She'd seen it last night; his was a teleportation type -at least she assumed it was- used to move short distances at a rapid pace. This...what the hell was this?! He'd drained that Ursa dry, like a tall glass of water. It had taken him some time and no small amount of effort, sure, but still!

He flashed her a wan smile. "I could ask you the same thing. Was that a clone Semblance?"

"Don't distract me! Y-You can't have two Semblances." she babbled, taking three steps back. "Its not possible. Not natural."

"You're right, in a technical sense." he paused to roll his right shoulder with an audible pop. "I was born with only one Semblance. I gained another."

Blake didn't like the implications of that sentence, least of all his tone. He was being mysterious, the bastard. Her keen might caught the hints he'd left and made the connection.

Gained. He'd said gained. That implied that he hadn't had the second Semblance; hadn't been born with it. Could he steal Semblances, then? And if so, how? It all made a twisted sort of sense. No wonder the Headmaster was willing to overlook Naruto's crimes. He wanted him here, in Beacon. Badly. A gift like that could change the world. Or destroy it. She shuddered and hugged her arms close to her chest as a chill swept through her. How pragmatic. Adam would kill for a gift like that. So would the rest of the world.

"Why tell me this?" she asked. "Why tell me anything all?"

"Because no one will ever believe you?" Naruto tilted his head, then laughed when she blanched. "That aside, I decided to make a point. Both to you, and whomever might be watching us." he pointedly looked up at where another camera was no doubt concealed. "Earlier, you called me a monster." when he strode forward Blake near shrank back. "Think how many people I could've killed with this. How many I haven't killed. Remember that before you judge me."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now hold still."

His hand pulsed red again, but rather than pain, she experienced a sudden rush of vitality; as if she'd drank a cup of coffee. Several cups.

"Death is a cycle." Naruto replied as she looked on in quiet awe. "It gives and it takes away." Red eyes faded back to their true blue and lanced into her gold. "Healing is a part of that. I choose what to do with the energy I take. I can hoard it all of it for myself, or I can use it in the service of others."

...I don't understand you." she pulled away with a small shiver.

"You wouldn't be the first. Maybe I was a better person in my first life?" he shook his head. "I get that feeling sometimes. I really do. But Grimm deserve no mercy. I'll use any and every advantage I have against them."

Blake opened her mouth to retort to that effect...!

"Aha! There you are!" A low, annoyed voice plucked the words right off her tongue. "I thought I heard your voice! Where the hell have you been?! Were you hidin' or something?!"

For the first time since she'd met him, Naruto's blue eyes sparked with true life once again. He rounded on the sound, for it came from behind them.

"That's my line!"

Emerald burst out of the undergrowth ahead of them, eyes narrow and cheeks flush with emotion. Said eyes fixed on Naruto and widened. Narrowed again. The thief didn't move. She bolted. There was a subtle sway in the older girl's hips when she approached them, an almost lazy-yet-tense gait that could morph into a dead sprint at the slightest provocation. Her own smile mirrored Naruto's in its intensity; no it burned brighter still; like a child finding a long lost friend.

He met her halfway.

Emerald all but crashed into him and buried her face in his chest with a sound that vaguely resembled a sigh. Tan arms wrapped around his waist like a lasso and held on for dear life. For his part the blond didn't make an effort to escape her embrace, even if he could. He simply laid his chin atop her head and patted her back. Blake flushed and looked away as he spoke.

"Did you think I'd run away or something?"

"Shut up." Emerald growled into his jacket. "Idiot. Stupid. I hate you."

"Missed you too." he hummed, planting a chaste kiss against her forehead. She grumbled on and held tighter.

All the while, Blake watched them with increasing discomfort. There was no degree of deference between the two of them. They were partners. Equals in all things. Perhaps even lovers. Oddly enough, the thought hurt. It reminded her of Adam. Witnessing such a display made her feel like an outsider. No, she was one, intruding on their moment like this.

As if sensing that very thought, Emerald finally noticed her. "Hey, who's the kid?"

"Just a tag-along." Naruto answered a little too quickly. "Well, we kinda...

"He's my partner." Blake hated to say it, but she knew she was better off with these two than Adam or Illia. They wouldn't understand. They'd just drag her back to the Fang. She wasn't going back. Not now, not ever. What was the saying the humans used? Better the devil that didn't kill than the one that did? Wait, that wasn't it...

"Fine." Emerald smiled and it was all teeth. "I haven't made eye contact with anyone else myself. Guess that makes him my partner, too."

"Huh." Naruto blinked. "Bit of a technicality, but that works, doesn't it?"

"That's not how the rules work!" Blake protested.

The two thieves laughed.

"Nobody caaaares~!"

(.0.0.0.)

Where was everyone?

Try as he might, Cardin Winchester hadn't seen so much as a single soul in the last hour.

Not since that damn Fox at any rate.

Just the thought of him made his blood boil anew. His fist tightened around the haft of his mace as he used it to mow down a web of vines in his path. All the while, an angry ember of rage continued to burn in the back of his mind. Bloody bunny lover. This was all his fault. Well! He'd show him. Him and all those freaks. He'd just been caught off guard last time. Yeah. That was it. None of this was his fault. It was all bad luck. Everyone was out to get him. He almost believed it.

His launch pad had been one of the first to go off; that alone should've guaranteed him a spot in the upper echelons.

Instead he'd been knocked on his ass and left to fend for himself. Damn fox. He'd make him pay. Now where the hell were his boys? It was quiet here without them. Too quiet. Freaked him right out, it did.

A twig snapped behind him.

Cardin jumped and rounded on the sound. "Dove? Sky? That you?"

Leaves rustled all around him, shifting and bending in the wind. "Russell? You there?"

Somewhere ahead of him he heard a tree creak ominously; as if someone had knocked it down. Or something.

"C'mon guys," a note of high panic etched itself into the boy's voice as he looked around for its source. "This shit ain't funny!"

Bulling ahead, he made for the first open area he could find, silently praying that it would be the ruin the old man had mentioned. Freaking headmaster.

Daylight burst through the trees as he broke free from the branches. A delighted gasp stole its way out of him; with the encroaching branches now behind him, Cardin felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was just being paranoid. There was nothing to be afraid of here. The Emerald Forest was dangerous, sure, but so was he! He was fearless! He was mighty! He had a freaking two-handed mace for crying out loud!

Something wet and cloying sucked against his boot.

"The hell?" the burly teen lifted his foot, frowned at it, and moved on toward the ruin.

At first, Cardin didn't understand what he was looking at in the distance; if only because the glade before him was a mess of torn earth and dirt. Strange shapes lay scattered about at odd angles, and he didn't understand what they were...at first. A silent pang of dread stole over him as he approached. Why were their crows in the sky? Were those even crows at all? Upon closer inspection, he recognized the shapes. They were bodies. Dead bodies.

They'd been slaughtered to a man. Not just them, but one or two of the other applicants too, men he didn't recognize.

"What the shit?!"

Three of them, he knew. Sky's head had been plucked right off his shoulders and spirited away, leaving his ruined body for the crows. Dove was clutching at what might have been his stomach...before something had torn it open. Rusell-urk. Oh Gods. Cardin couldn't even look at him. They'd died hard, all three of them. They'd died fighting. And he hadn't been there.

Cardin turned and vomited his breakfast into the grass, a lurid green puddle spreading beneath them. He looked up and heaved again.

They weren't strong. No, scratch that. He wasn't strong enough. What had he been thinking, coming to Beacon a year early?! They weren't ready for something like this. It was his fault. All his fault. He'd been the one to pressure his dad, who had in turn applied pressure to Ozpin to allow They'd all wanted to be Huntsmen so very badly- to be big damn heroes...and now his friends had paid the price for his folly.

A low howl echoed through the woods. It was soon taken up by another. Another still. Another. Each brought with a b

Monstrous eyes followed him from the grove he'd left behind, one pair larger than the rest. Far larger.

Something impossibly huge loped out of the thicket and into the clearing ahead of him. It was big, far bigger than any Beowolf had any right to be, easily eclipsing his on all fours. Hideous green spikes jutted from its back like porcupine quills as hideous slitted green eyes roved about the grove. Damned thing didn't look right. There was some ghastly metal bladed thing attached to one of its hind legs that seemed to drag behind it, tearing a deep furrow into the ground as it walked. Looked like it had been welded on by some madman. But that wasn't what captured his attention.

Cardin gulped. "You...you bastard...!"

If its bloody snout and stained claws didn't confirm his suspicions already, Russell's arm did all that and more. He could even see the boy's long daggers jutting out of the beast's back, alongside Dove's shortsword and the ruined shaft of Sky's halberd with a number of others. As he looked on the gigantic creature tossed its head back and swallowed the mangled limb whole. This monster, this bastard, this thing had murdered his friends. His team. If he stood his ground here -alone!- it would undoubtedly do the same to him.

It saw him, then. O r perhaps it heard him. Who could say. Regardless, it made a chuffing sound that might've been laughter. Bullshit. Everyone knew that Grimm didn't laugh...right?

"Little pig...little pig...little pig...

Oh what fresh hell was this?! Grimm didn't -couldn't!- talk at all! So why was this one speaking?!

Cardin's palms grew slick with sweat, and his mace suddenly felt like a lead weight in his hands; his armor, a heavy weight dragging him down. To his dismay, more of the creature's pack emerged from the trees and still, his legs failed him. One after the other they padded forward, until he could no longer count them. No. He couldn't die here. He had to avenge his friends. But he couldn't do it alone. And yet if he ran, they'd run him down in a matter of minutes, if not sooner.

The lead Beowolf threw back its head and loosed a mighty howl that rattled the air itself.

What little remained of Cardin's resolve broke.

He scarpered.

A/N: READ THIS LEST YE BE CONFUSED!

Little Blake stole the show here, but the next chapter will blow this one right out of the water.

This story's all about choices and consequences and the fate of Dove, Rusell, and Sky was a direct result of that. They weren't ready for Beacon and paid the price. Hope you're all picking up the hints I'm putting down here. Seems someone's been messing about with the Grimm too...gee...I wonder who it could be.

His name starts with M. You get three guesses. First two don't count.

Now then! Last chance to cast your votes for the teams~!

Because as of next chapter, we're moving on. I've already got a number of drafts -several thousand words worth- written up, but I felt I should give folks one final chance to voice their opinions on the direction of this story. As I warned earlier, the choices HAVE since been narrowed down, but I'm still open to suggestions.

So to make things simple, lets list the current partner known pairs -Not For Romance!- and the potential outcomes.

Emerald hasn't found herself a partner yet, but she's obviously called dibs on Naruto.

The only seen pair here, as far as partners go, is Naruto and Blake.

To say anything more would spoil things.

I've got some team names in mind, but I'm interested to hear what others think. We've got enough for three teams here, leaving Cardin the odd man out. He'll still be going to Beacon, albeit not at all in the way one might expect. Sadly, most of team CRDL didn't make it. Cardin did. I don't recall there being a rule against a single graduate. And there we go!

As ever, lack of reviews murder my inspiration. If folks don't review, I tend to think they don't like a story, you know?

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Revieeew... Would You Kindly?

They keeps an old man alive.

And enjoy the previews!

SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

PLOT DETAILS AHOY!

(Preview)

"Little...pigs...

Naruto glowered up at the Beowolf.

"Careful." Cinder's voice brushed his ear. "Its faster than it looks."

"I'm not worried about that...why the hell can this thing talk!? Grimm don't talk!"

She shrugged helplessly. "If you can buy me time, I should be able to finish it off. Just be careful. You're of no use to me dead."

"And here I thought you cared."

She slapped his arm. "Be quiet and get ready."

Much to his annoyance, the giant abomination glowered right back at the ot of them. Size or no, it was outnumbered; sanity or not, it had to know that. Yet still it stared them down, unafraid, confident even. He heard his allies draw their weapons behind him, felt Pyrrha tense against his side, favoring her good legt. Coco was only a heartbeat behind with Blake and the rest. She wouldn't even look at Adam and Illia, nor they here. That was going to be an awful mess to fix once they were done, but for now, he was more concerned with this towering creature.

From her perch in the trees above, Emerald drew a sharp breath.

She whistled harshly.

"Now!" She shouted. "Go go go!"

Together, the students absolutely blitzed the beast.

"C'mon, Whiskers!" Coco clicked her tongue. "We don't have all day. Make your choice already! Who you are Blake gonna work with?!"

Emerald turned pleading eyes on him. "You can't be serious. Its not even a choice...right?"

It was like an arrow in the heart. Urk!

"Wake up."

"Ha! Our team's the best!"

"Oh? That sounds like a challenge. Shall we make a game of it, then?"

Ozpin steepled his fingers and laid his chin atop them. "By all means, enlighten me. What, precisely, does your Semblance do?"

"Well, its hard to explain." Naruto scratched a whiskered cheek. "I mean, given what it can do, I thought about calling it All For One, but it felt like that would too on the nose, for some reason. Reaper's Touch just sounded way more badass at the time and-ow!"

Emerald slapped the back of his head. "Ignore that, he's being an ass."

"Quite." The headmaster sighed. "Continue...

R&R~!